Commentary and Reference Survey: A Comprehensive Guide to Biblical and Theological Resources [Paperback]

John Glynn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2007

Now in its tenth edition, this reliable, acclaimed guide lists and ranks approximately 900 commentaries and 1,600 other biblical resources for the benefit of professors, Bible students, and pastors. Two new chapters on exegetical software round out this comprehensive guide.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

First assembled as a “labor of love” in 1994, John Glynn’s survey of biblical and theological resources has won wide acclaim from professors, students, and pastors. This much-anticipated tenth edition lists and ranks approximately 900 commentaries and 1,600 other volumes related to biblical interpretation, theology, church history, and preaching. Commentaries are categorized by level and approach, while recommended titles are highlighted. Two new chapters on exegetical software round out this comprehensive guide.

Praise for the ninth edition:

“This survey is a genuine service to students of the Bible. . . . [It] gives them a clear array of choices as well as good guidance.”

—Darrell L. Bock, Dallas Theological Seminary

“If you want to do Bible study, this is the help you need.”

—John H. Walton, Wheaton College and Graduate School

“It’s great to have a consensus commentary and reference survey that combines the judgments of many other surveys. I highly recommend it.”

—George W. Knight III, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

“[A] marvelous bibliographic reference. For students, preachers, and teachers . . .  this survey answers the question, Where will I get the best book for my bucks?”

—Haddon W. Robinson, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

“For most teachers of Scripture and pastors the problem is not finding good resources for biblical study . . . , the issue is determining the best resources. Thanks to Glynn’s thorough research this problem will be solved for many.”

—Daniel I. Block, Wheaton College and Graduate School

“A listing [that] surely represents the best of contemporary . . . scholarship.”

—Eugene H. Merrill, Dallas Theological Seminary

“I highly recommend this updated and reliable guide to the ‘must-have’ resources for serious biblical and theological study.”

—Henry Holloman, Talbot School of Theology

John Glynn, a life-long resident of Massachusetts, is a freelance academic proofreader and writer. He is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston. A member of the Evangelical Theological Society, he also authors the annual retrospective of Bible and Bible references for Preaching magazine.

About the Author

John Glynn, a lifelong resident of Massachusetts, is a freelance academic proofreader and writer. He is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Kregel Academic & Professional; 10 edition (February 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0825427371
• ISBN-13: 978-0825427374
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #388,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid on Commentaries, But Somewhat Disappointing, August 8, 2008

By 

William Turner "John 5:24" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Commentary and Reference Survey: A Comprehensive Guide to Biblical and Theological Resources (Paperback)

Other reviews written are already comprehensive enough for this book, so I will be short.

It strengths: 1) Gives persuasion (E, E/Cr, C/M, L/Cr) for each commentary and for special studies on each book related to the biblical text under review (such as Matthew, Mark, etc.) 2) Recommends specific studies for books with particular issues (ex., homosexuality in Romans). 3) Interacts with many of the different commentary series giving basic audience, readability, pastoral usefulness, etc. I found this to be extremely helpful. 4) Gives solid lists that are very up-to-date and includes footnotes for the upcoming commentaries on every individual book of scripture, this is very helpful. 5) Gives wonderful lists for introductions, surveys, special studies (both specific to book and as a whole for each testament), for languages, resource tools, etc. 6) Gives the reader a solid background on what to expect in building a library and how to go about it depending on your educational direction (pastor, academic, layperson, etc.)

Its weaknesses: 1) The strength on the interaction found in all the commentaries (lists, dialogue, suggestions, etc.) is supremely lacking in the sections on theology. I found this section of the work very disappointing as this was a key area for me in building my library with systematic works. Though he gives multiple options, there is rarely solid interaction with anything. 2) Though Glynn highlights his recommendations, and suggests ones he would get from time to time if limited to only a few, he doesn't rank them and give the reader his rubric for doing so. Glynn does tell us at the beginning how he evaluated the works in this survey, but he doesn't give a ranking except near the beginning concerning his thoughts on an overall commentary series (NICNT, NIGNT, NTL, OTL, PNTC, BCNT, etc.). I really wish he would have been consistent throughout. 3) He limited his assessment of E, E/Cr, C/M, L/Cr to only commentaries on books of scripture or survey/intro works on the OT/NT. 4) Though I understand his purpose is to survey more recent works (as I saw only a few dated prior to 1980, such as William Lane on Mark NICNT [1974], Chafer's Systematic Theology [1948, rev. 1993], etc.), he consistently leaves out classic commentaries throughout. A clear example of this is John Murray's commentary on Romans. I understand Moo's commentary on Romans (1996) was written to replace Murray's in the NICNT series, but to leave Murray's out altogether? This is very unfortunate.

Overall, the work is well-worth the price if it saves you from buying one worthless commentary which you originally misjudged. This survey is much better for evaluating commentaries, introductions/surveys, and language tools/resources, than it is of (more strictly) systematic theology, theological surveys, and theological specifics (soteriology, eschatology, etc.). Though it is certainly not poor in these areas, it leaves much to be desired. However, Glynn's survey on the commentaries alone is well-worth getting this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reference Guide, April 12, 2007

By 

jimSJN "Servant of Jesus of Nazareth" (Brookings SD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Commentary and Reference Survey: A Comprehensive Guide to Biblical and Theological Resources (Paperback)

So as not to be redundant I heartily agree with the reviews of Peter Richert and Danny Hays. I do not think putting prices in the book is very helpful since we can quickly find them on the internet.

There are two weaknesses in Glynn's book. (1) There is no author index. For this reason, I go to David Bauer's work first. (2) Also unlike Bauer, Glynn offers no annotations on his preferred selections. Bauer's are lengthy.

A necessary strength of Glynn's work over Bauer's is the categorizing of the commentaries by theological perspective and the focus of the commentary.

In the final analysis each person has his likes and dislikes and each guides's author has his own view. Total objctivity can not be achieved, even though their views are extremely informative. For this reason, I also have the works of Lynn Gardner, Carson and Longman. Five heads are better than one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable reference for any Bible teacher or preacher, April 3, 2009

By 

Brett D. McLaughlin (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Commentary and Reference Survey: A Comprehensive Guide to Biblical and Theological Resources (Paperback)

It's a little misleading to say I've "read" this book, although I've gone through every word of the explanatory sections. This is simply an essential book for every even semi-serious student of the Bible. On top of that, any Bible teacher (lay or professional) who doesn't have a good organized resource of resources doesn't care much about their students.

Glynn gives you a primer on getting a basic library started, and then goes into specific helps on Greek, Hebrew, and systematic theology. Then, you'll get 300 pages of detailed commentaries indexed by theological persuasion: Evangelical, Conservative, Liberal, Critical, etc. Glynn also has extensive footnotes, which adds a personal set of ideas to a referential work. Lots of times, Glynn's opinions are useful, but he doesn't interject them in his ordering of the references, which is really nice.

A must-buy for anyone building or growing a serious library, and wants more than a set of books that agree with the reader over Scripture.